Caption: Kamla Persad-Bissessar. Photo: T&T Parliament
By Alicia Chamely
PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar is calling out CARICOM for aligning themselves with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s administration, slamming their position of a zone of peace as “fakery.”
In a X (formerly Twitter) post on Sunday, Persad-Bissessar stated, “CARICOM has aligned itself with the Maduro narco government headed by a dictator who has imprisoned or killed thousands of Venezuelans who oppose him.”
“Trinidad and Tobago wants no part of that alignment, we don’t support dictatorship and drug trafficking, and we don’t support CARICOM in their zone of peace fakery,” she continued.
On Saturday, Persad-Bissessar described CARICOM as an “unreliable partner” and highlighted the recent US VISA restrictions placed on Antigua and Barbuda.
Responding to her criticisms, Antigua and Barbuda Prime Minister Gaston Browne blasted Persad-Bissessar, reminding her that trade with CARICOM nations was a significant source of trade for T&T.
Directly addressing Gaston-Browne, Persad-Bissessar stated, “Gaston and Ronald Sanders should worry less about my comments and spend more time explaining to their citizens as to why their visas were restricted.”
Justifying her support for US actions against Venezuela and choosing not to adopt the “zone of peace” policy, she stated, Venezuela had long made threats against fellow CARICOM member Guyana and T&T. She stated these threats excluded T&T from posturing itself as a “zone of peace,” having experienced hostility from Venezuela.
In September, Persad-Bissessar defended her government’s support of the US action against Venezuela, stating unlike other CARICOM countries T&T had been a direct victim of the effects of the drug, weapons and human trafficking trade, the US has alleged to be facilitated by the Maduro regime.
In her statement on X, Persad-Bissessar again distanced T&T from CARICOM’s “zone of peace” and accused fellow member states of enabling the Maduro regime.
Persad-Bissessar stated, “CARICOM has chosen to support the maduro narco government through the fake zone of peace narrative which is clearly designed to get the American military to leave the Caribbean region and therefore enable Maduro to remain as dictator in Venezuela.”
“My priority is in the best interests of the citizens of Trinidad and Tobago,” she ended
